If you think those who focus on the visual content of Pinterest are only fashionistas and cuddly kitten lovers, think again. The visual media platform has become so broad in its content and appeal there is literally something for all interests.But I don’t get it… I admit I was a doubter when I was first invited to Pinterest some months ago. In trying to build an author’s platform I focused my efforts entirely on words with a few images in my weekly blog. Then articles kept coming across my computer on the impact of Pinterest and when I took a second look, it finally clicked. A few weeks ago I set up my Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/artyyah/. Now I’m hooked.
- A.K.Andrew Pinterest page
Is Pinterest Coming out of Left Field for you?Imagine you’re an avid baseball photo collector. Your baseball photo Pinterest “board” might include some photos you have , and “re-pins” of other people’s photos from Pinterest. You now have your own virtual baseball photo collection to look at any time, to share with others and exchange or add images and comments. How cool is that?
Can Pinterest work for pleasure and business ? Definitely.If you’re a baseball photo seller, with Pinterest, you now have a brand new audience who has access to your products. Sports fans love statistics. Make then visual, make then fun. Infographics are the hottest thing in marketing at the moment, so add those too. Check out my infographics "Board" for some examples. https://pinterest.com/artyyah/infographics/
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OK. Lets’s get to the nitty gritty -
Five Reasons to Focus on Pinterest
1. Visually VelocityHands up who loved picture books as a child? Yep, everyone. Adults are no different. We’re naturally drawn to images. In today's media overload, short attention span society, a picture truly does say more than a 1,000 words.When we find an image of something we’re interested in, it grabs our attention immediately. The Pinterest search feature is a snip. "Pinning" is fun and interactive, and along the way we might just find something that inspires us to do more in both the virtual and real world. Last week, through Pinterest, I discovered a site that showed me how to transfer photographic images onto wood. Not something I was looking for, but I was jazzed.Your soul might be enriched by a beautiful image, but for business, education and non-profits, who have used visual aids for eons, they know they can capitalize on people’s intake of information being more easily reached by an image than a few dry paragraphs. Think infographics.2. Fastest Growing New Kid on The BlockBy January 2012, Pinterest became one of the fastest growing websites around, hitting 11.7M unique visitors. Those kind of numbers can't be ignored by anyone who is trying to get a message, product, thought or vision out there. A recent study from Shareaholic shows that Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than Google+, Linkedin, and YouTube combined! Why has it been so successful so quickly? Because of it’s broad appeal in both subject matter and its delivery of information. Visual is key.
3. Flexible Imaging - "Do do ...that Voodoo… that You Do So Well…"Pinterest lends itself to just about anything you want to say, sell, show or share. It’s as effective for an individual wanting to share photo’s of their Patagonian trip, as it is for a health organization to convey the benefits of walking. Businesses have been using advertising since bartering went out of style, and as we all know first hand, image is key in selling products.B2B is a fast growing aspect of Pinterest with businesses varying from Manufacturing, to Healthcare, Technology and Software , many of whom use infographics as well as strong visual content.Want to show the actual product? – go ahead. Want to show how your web-design business will benefit a client? - how better than to show that client how creative you are with your boards. With Pinterest, you have virtually unlimited space to show yourself off.
There are literally millions of new “pins” a week, and “pinners” are having fun. It’s the interactive nature combined with the visual appeal that makes it so successful for both personal and business use. It’s ability as a powerful social media is already established. 4. Being Sociable with Link Love. Each time an image is “re-pinned”, it always links back to the original post, so the interchange of information in terms of people’s website’s is phenomenal. People love link love. It makes one feel good to have an image “liked” or “re-pinned”, or even better being “followed”. People often reciprocate and/or go to your main site. Like bloggers, I’ve found “pinners” to be a friendly bunch. These are people that may never have come across you any other way.5. Creative CuriosityWhatever your interest, Pinterest helps you think of things in a different way, encouraging you to be creative. How shall I group my images? What shall I call my boards? They can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. Just express yourself with the wealth of images easily reached through their search feature for you to play with. I look at what other people do and sometimes think WOW, that's a great idea – in short Pinterest can be inspiring. Another writer, Priscilla Warner, http://pinterest.com/priscillawarner/my-dream-writing-studios/, has a board called ‘My Dream Writing Studio’s’, which vary from tree houses to a tropical paradise. She heads her board saying ”My Office is my Bed. But I would happily bring my laptop to any of these places…" I can relate.Go ahead - explore. Allow yourself to dream.Pinterest is still by invite only. You can request one directly from Pinterest, but feel free to contact me if you'd like an invite.
I'd love to hear your comments, so come join the discussion. Follow me on: -Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/artyyah/Twitter: @artyyahFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/akandrewwriterFor regular updates of my blog: Subscribe Here
For those who like hard facts, the following links may be of interest:http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/08/20/learnings-from-my-pinterest-experiment/
